Rehabilitation Medicine

Services

Outpatient Services – NeuroRecovery Network

The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation NeuroRecovery Network at Boston Medical Center is one of only seven centers in the country, and the only center in the New England area, collaborating to provide and develop therapies, currently Locomotor Training, to promote functional recovery and improve the health and quality of life of people living with paralysis.

Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through a cooperative agreement with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, the NRN translates the latest scientific advances into effective, activity-based rehabilitation treatments.

Each center in the network is staffed with a group of dedicated professionals who have received specialized training in order to deliver the NRN’s therapies. The staff includes center directors, physicians, data managers, physical therapists and rehabilitation technicians.

Locomotor Training, the method of physical therapy currently deployed by the NRN, patients are suspended in a harness over a treadmill, while specially-trained therapists move their legs to simulate walking. As patients progress and improve function, they move from the treadmill to conventional walking in the clinic and community. This intensive therapy is currently being used to improve function in those with incomplete spinal cord injury.

The NRN at BMC hosts an annual Locomotor Training Principles and Practice Activity Based Therapy Course for physical therapists, physical therapist assistants, program directors and rehab technicians interested in learning the basic science and practical application of the Locomotor Training treatment utilized within the NRN.

For more information about NRN at BMC, contact Jane Wierbicky at 617.638.7316 or email jane.wierbicky@bmc.org.